Dunkin' Donuts' Top Twitter Fans Star in New Ads

Dunkin' Donuts has been on a roll with social media lately, debuting one of the first Vine-based TV spots in history last month. So forgive the brand's marketing chief, John Costello, for being a bit loosey-goosey during the second day of the ANA Masters of Marketing confab in Phoenix.

Costello gave the coffee-sipping audience a sneak peek at two 30-second ads that will break on Oct. 14. In an effort called #MyDunkin, the spots feature two consumers—one in each ad—who were chosen to appear for the brand due to their positive tweets about its products.

"You can imagine the reaction when they were told on the phone that they could appear in a national TV commercial," Costello said. "[Our team] went through thousands and thousands of tweets before deciding on those two."

Costello didn't reveal other specifics, but it's highly probable that the ads will run on ESPN around the brand's season-long sponsorship of the cable channel's Monday Night Football pregame show.

In addition, if the brand's past efforts—led by Hill Holliday—are any indication, one can assume there will be Promoted Tweets purchased to amplify the new spots. After all, Nielsen recently reported that 29 percent of TV ratings are affected by Twitter.

"Digital and social are growing dramatically," Costello said. "So we are riding that trend. ... Digital is growing faster than traditional, but both have to earn their way."

Dunkin' Donuts has been on a roll with social media lately, debuting one of the first Vine-based TV spots in history last month. So forgive the brand's marketing chief, John Costello, for being a bit loosey-goosey during the second day of the ANA Masters of Marketing confab in Phoenix.

Costello gave the coffee-sipping audience a sneak peek at two 30-second ads that will break on Oct. 14. In an effort called #MyDunkin, the spots feature two consumers—one in each ad—who were chosen to appear for the brand due to their positive tweets about its products.

"You can imagine the reaction when they were told on the phone that they could appear in a national TV commercial," Costello said. "[Our team] went through thousands and thousands of tweets before deciding on those two."

Costello didn't reveal other specifics, but it's highly probable that the ads will run on ESPN around the brand's season-long sponsorship of the cable channel's Monday Night Football pregame show.

In addition, if the brand's past efforts—led by Hill Holliday—are any indication, one can assume there will be Promoted Tweets purchased to amplify the new spots. After all, Nielsen recently reported that 29 percent of TV ratings are affected by Twitter.

"Digital and social are growing dramatically," Costello said. "So we are riding that trend. ... Digital is growing faster than traditional, but both have to earn their way."